Shoebox

ABSTRACT

A shoebox includes a box body and a lid. The box body has a box bottom and four box laterals. Each of the box laterals and the box bottom include a first angle that is between 91.5° and 102°. The lid has a lid bottom and four lid laterals. The lid bottom is larger than the box bottom. Each of the lid laterals and the lid bottom include a second angle that is greater than the first angle. The lid has the lid bottom covering the opening so as to close the accommodating space. When the shoeboxes are stacked up, the box body of one shoebox is placed into the opening of another shoebox and partially received in the accommodating space. This allows the shoeboxes to be staked in a more compact form, thereby saving space for storage and transportation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to shoeboxes for storing various shoes.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Shoeboxes are one of the most seen packaging materials in our dailylife. A shoebox is typically for storing and protecting shoes, and isalso an advertising medium for the dealers to promote their shoes.

A conventional shoebox 10 shown in FIG. 1 has primarily a box body 11and a lid 12 covering it. Therein, for arranging the shoeboxes 10 instacks regularly, most of the existing shoeboxes are as the shoebox 10shown in the drawing, as a square box or a rectangular box.

However, since the conventional shoebox 10 has a fixed height andinflexible configuration, the box body 11 and the lid 12 can only bearranged in a fixed way. When it comes to storage or transportation, therelatively large volume of the conventional shoebox 10 can lead to anundesirably bulky stake that consumes more space.

In view of the shortcomings mentioned above, the prior art needs to beimproved, and the inventor of the present invention herein proposes anovel shoebox.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a shoebox, with the objective to improvethe existing shoeboxes by allowing the shoeboxes to be stacked up in amore compact form, thereby saving space for storage and transportation.

For achieving the above-mentioned objective, the present inventionprovides a shoebox, a box body, having a rectangular a box bottom andfour box laterals surrounding four edges of the box bottom, wherein eachsaid box lateral and the box bottom include a first angle that isbetween 91.5° and 102°, while the four box laterals and the box bodyjointly define an accommodating space that has an opening; and a lid,having a rectangular lid bottom and four lid laterals surrounding fouredges of the lid bottom, the lid bottom being larger than the boxbottom, each said lid lateral and the lid bottom including a secondangle, the second angle being greater than the first angle, and the lidhaving the lid bottom covering the opening so as to close theaccommodating space.

The disclosed shoebox provides the following benefits. Each of the fourbox laterals of the box body and the box bottom include a first angle,so as to make the box body a narrow-bottom trapezoid structure, and thelid bottom is larger than the box bottom, so when two disclosedshoeboxes are stacked up, the box body of the upper one can be partiallyreceived in the box body of the lower one. This allows the shoeboxes tobe staked in a more compact form, thereby saving space for storage andtransportation.

The invention as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives andadvantages thereof will be best understood by reference to the followingdetailed description of illustrative embodiments when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a conventional shoebox;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a shoebox according to one embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 3 is a partial, cross-sectional view of the shoebox according tothe embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a stacked of shoeboxes according tothe embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a partial, cross-sectional view of a shoebox according toanother embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the presentinvention, wherein the shoeboxes are stacked up.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following preferred embodiments when read with the accompanyingdrawings are made to clearly exhibit the above-mentioned and othertechnical contents, features and effects of the present invention.Unless otherwise noted, like elements will be identified by identicalnumbers throughout all figures.

Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, in one preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, the shoebox comprises a box body 20 and a lid 30.

The box body 20 has a rectangular box bottom 21 and four box laterals 22surrounding the box bottom 21 at its four edges. In the presentembodiment, the box bottom 21 is rectangular, and the four box laterals22 include two pairs of different sizes. Each said box lateral 22 andthe box bottom 21 include a first angle α, wherein the first angle a isbetween 91.5° and 102°. In other words, each said box lateral 22diverges from the normal of the box bottom 21 by 1.5° to 12°. Thereby,all the box laterals 22 and the box bottom 21 jointly define anaccommodating space 24 having an opening 23, so that the box body 20 isshaped into a narrow-bottom trapezoid.

The lid 30 has a rectangular lid bottom 31 and four lid laterals 32surrounding the lid bottom 31 at its four edges. The lid bottom 31 hasits length and width greater than those of the box bottom 21. In thepresent embodiment, the lid bottom 31 is rectangular, and the four lidlaterals 32 include two pairs of different sizes. Each said lid laterals32 and the lid bottom 31 include a second angle β, wherein the secondangle β is greater than the first angle α. The lid 30 also has anarrow-bottom trapezoid structure. The lid 30 has the lid bottom 31placed into the box body 20 to cover the opening 23, thereby closing theaccommodating space 24. The lid 30 may be provided with auxiliary lidlaterals 321. The auxiliary lid lateral 321 is structurally a part ofthe lid laterals 32 extending beyond the lid bottom 31. In other words,each said lid laterals 32 extends at one side (upward side) of one saidedge of the lid bottom 31, and each said auxiliary lid lateral 321extends from the lid lateral 32 at an opposite side (downward side) ofthe edge of the lid bottom 31. Therefore, the auxiliary lid lateral 321and the lid bottom include an angle that is equal to 180° minus β.

With the components and configuration described previously, the presentinvention embodiment has the utility and benefits given below. Referringto FIG. 4, for stacking up the shoeboxes of the present invention forstorage, the plural box bodies 20 are stacked, so that the accommodatingspace 24 of the lower shoebox partially receives the box body 20 of theimmediately upper shoebox. This allows the shoeboxes to be staked in amore compact form, thereby saving space for storage and transportation.

Please refer to FIG. 5 for another embodiment of the present invention,which is a modified variation of the previously discussed embodiment.While the similar parts are not to be described herein, it is to benoted that the box body 20B further has a positioning ring 25B formed atthe upper end of the box laterals 22B and the lid 30B further has aretaining ring 33B formed at the periphery of the lid bottom 31B. Whenthe lid 30B closes the accommodating space 24B, the retaining ring 33Band the positioning ring 25B engage with each other. The engagementbetween the retaining ring 33B and the positioning ring 25B prevents thecombination between the lid 30B and the box body 20B from unintentionalseparation.

Please refer to FIG. 6 together with FIG. 5. When containing shoes, thedisclosed shoebox may be stacked up as shown. Particularly, the boxbottom 21B of the box body 20B of one said shoebox is placed on the lid30B of another said shoebox. This helps to slightly reduce the overallheight of the stack of the shoeboxes, and the unique style of such ashoebox stack is eye-catching to consumers. Therein, the lid bottom 31 Bof the lid 30B may be further provided with an anti-slip portion 34B. Inthe present embodiment, the anti-slip portion 34B includes plural ribs341B formed on the surface of the lid bottom. The anti-slip portion 34Bincreases friction between the box bottom 21B and the lid bottom 31B,further ensuring the stability of the shoebox stack. Furthermore, athrough hole 35B may be formed at a corner of the lid bottom 31B of thelid 30B for a user's finger to pass therethrough so that the user canhold the shoebox or open the lid 30B easily.

The present invention has been described with reference to the preferredembodiments and it is understood that the embodiments are not intendedto limit the scope of the present invention. Moreover, as the contentsdisclosed herein should be readily understood and can be implemented bya person skilled in the art, all equivalent changes or modificationswhich do not depart from the concept of the present invention should beencompassed by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A shoebox, comprising: a box body, having arectangular a box bottom and four box laterals surrounding four edges ofthe box bottom, wherein each said box lateral and the box bottom includea first angle that is between 91.5° and 102°, while the four boxlaterals and the box body jointly define an accommodating space that hasan opening; and a lid, having a rectangular lid bottom and four lidlaterals surrounding four edges of the lid bottom, the lid bottom beinglarger than the box bottom, each said lid lateral and the lid bottomincluding a second angle, the second angle being greater than the firstangle, and the lid having the lid bottom covering the opening so as toclose the accommodating space.
 2. The shoebox of claim 1, wherein thebox body further has a positioning ring formed at upper ends of the boxlaterals, and the lid has a retaining ring formed along a periphery ofthe lid bottom, so that when the lid closes the accommodating space, theretaining ring and the positioning ring engage with each other.
 3. Theshoebox of claim 1, further comprising an anti-slip portion formed at atop of the lid bottom of the lid.
 4. The shoebox of claim 1, furthercomprising a through hole formed on the lid bottom of the lid.
 5. Theshoebox of claim 1, wherein each said lid lateral extends at one side ofone said edge of the lid bottom, and the lid further has auxiliary lidlaterals each extending from the lid lateral at an opposite side of theedge of the lid bottom.